German Navy secures Lynx helicopter parts from Denmark

With a need to maintain its fleet of 22 Sea Lynxes until the end of 2026, the German Navy has secured spare parts from Denmark's now retired fleet of helicopters. (Janes/Gareth Jennings)

Germany has secured Lynx parts from Denmark to maintain its fleet of anti-submarine warfare/anti-surface warfare (ASW/ASuW) helicopters until its retirement date of December 2026.

The chief of the air arm of the German Navy (Kommandeur Marineflieger), Sea Captain Thorsten Bobzin, announced the buy on 31 October, saying it was necessary to keep the service's Westland Mk 88A Sea Lynx airworthy until the arrival of its NHIndustries (NHI) NH90 Sea Tiger replacement.

“Sea Lynx will continue to provide the onboard helicopters for the Deutsche Marine until December 2026, until a transition to the NH90 Sea Tiger is started,” Sea Capt Bobzin tweeted from his official account. “In order to ensure the availability of supplies, the Bundeswehr [is also buying] scarce parts from stocks of the Danish partner of the Marineflieger.”

According to Janes World Navies , the Marineflieger has 22 Sea Lynx helicopters in its inventory, which it will replace with 31 Sea Tiger helicopters. According to Sea Capt Bobzin's announcement, these German Sea Lynxes will now be partly supported with parts acquired from the eight Lynx Mk 90B aircraft that the Royal Danish Air Force (RDAF) recently retired in favour of the Lockheed Martin MH-60R Seahawk.

Although the German Mk 88A Sea Lynx and the Danish Mk 90B Lynx types have different designations, they are both versions of the Super Lynx, and so they share almost universal commonality.